18 questions, answered properly

A provisional licence that has arrived — the plastic card, not the application. Bring it to every lesson; I have to see it before you drive, and a test examiner will not let you sit the test without it. Glasses or contacts if you need them to read a number plate at 20 metres. That is the whole list.

You can hold a provisional licence from 15 years and 9 months, and drive a car on the road from your 17th birthday. If you get the enhanced rate mobility component of PIP, you can drive from 16.

The DVSA's own figure is around 45 hours of professional lessons plus 22 hours of private practice. That is an average across everybody, not a target: under-20s with family practice often need less, and people learning entirely from scratch in city traffic often need more. Anyone promising you a pass in ten hours is selling, not teaching. I will give you a revised estimate after the second lesson, and again when we book the test.

You can, but you would sit the practical test again. An automatic pass gives you an automatic-only licence. A manual pass covers both. If you are certain you will never need a van or a work vehicle, automatic is a legitimate shortcut and will probably cost you less overall; if you are not certain, learn manual.

Yes, anywhere in the core area at no extra charge — home, work, college or the station. That is the point of a mobile instructor. Outside the core area there may be a small travel charge, which I will tell you before you book, not after.

For refresher lessons, often yes, as long as it is insured for a driving instructor to supervise. For learner lessons, no: it needs dual controls, your insurance almost certainly will not cover a learner, and you cannot sit the practical test in a car without an extra interior mirror for the examiner.

Early, and certainly before you are anywhere near test standard. The theory pass lasts two years and the practical test cannot be booked without it — people routinely reach practical standard and then lose six weeks waiting for a theory slot. Book it once you have had three or four lessons.

It varies constantly by centre and is the single biggest cause of delay in learning to drive. Check the live availability on GOV.UK rather than trusting anything a website tells you, including this one. Book as soon as you have the theory pass and we will work towards the date; moving a test is easier than finding one.

You can rebook after 10 working days. We go through the examiner's sheet together, work the faults specifically, and I will tell you honestly whether the next date should be the earliest available or three weeks later. Most people who fail, fail on one or two repeatable things, not on everything.

No. If you need stopping urgently I will say "stop" loudly, because that is what the word is for, and then we will talk about it when the car is stationary. Being shouted at teaches you to fear the lesson, not to drive.

It is the most common thing people apologise for and it is not a problem. We can start in a car park with the engine off, agree the route before we set off, keep lessons to an hour, and agree a word that means pull over and stop with no discussion. Tell me what you are worried about before the first lesson rather than during it.

Fully insured for driver tuition, and DBS checked. confirm before publishing Ask to see both at the first lesson. Any instructor who is reluctant to show you is the wrong instructor.

Not yet — I am working towards the DVSA Approved Driving Instructor qualification, which is three parts: a theory exam, a driving-ability test, and an instructional-ability test. this page will be rewritten when that changes Until a badge is in the windscreen, nothing on this site should be read as a claim to hold one. A trainee instructor holds a pink licence, a qualified one a green badge, and you are entitled to ask which you are getting.

Yes. Unused hours are refunded at the rate you paid, minus nothing. I would rather refund you than have you grinding through hours you have stopped wanting.

Lessons are in English. The practical test is conducted in English or Welsh and interpreters are not allowed, so if English is new to you we will spend time on the specific words an examiner uses — "pull up on the left", "when it is safe to do so", "follow the road ahead" — because those are what trip people up, not the driving.

A six-hour DVSA post-test course covering town, rural roads, dual carriageways, motorways, night and bad weather. It is genuinely useful — rural roads and night driving are where new drivers come unstuck, and neither is tested. Whether it saves you money depends entirely on your insurer: some discount for it, many have stopped. Get the quote in writing first.

Yes, since 2018, with an approved instructor in a dual-control car. It is optional, it is not tested, and it is one of the best two hours you can spend. Learning the M60 for the first time alone, after you pass, is the worse version of this.

Bank transfer before the lesson, or cash at the end. No card machine and no app.